Play
Ball!
July 2
– October 26, 2012
Opening
Reception July 26, 2012 from 5-8 PM
Gallery
at Atlantic Wharf
290
Congress Street
Fort
Point Honors 100 Years of Boston baseball. Featuring the work of Laura
Davidson, Leslie Feagley, Joanne Kaliontzis, Jean Hangarter, Andrew Kirby, Danny O, Karen
McFeaters, Sylvia Stagg–Giuliano, Anne Welch, Elisa H. Hamilton, Andrew Kirby, and Ian
Kennelly.
Bill Carrigan, Heinie Wagner, Jake Stahl, Tris Speaker
20 x16 digital collage on panel
FPAC: Humphrey Bogart once said, “A hotdog at
the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.” As we all know Bostonians
love their baseball and this exhibit explores the game that truly is an
American past time. What compelled you to create an exhibit around
baseball? How were the works for the show chosen?
IK:
This is the forth or fifth baseball themed show I have been in since 2008. The
first, '2332', in California was
curated by Darlene DeAngelo at The Huntington Beach Art Center. Play
Ball! was modeled after this exhibit. Laura (Davidson) and I picked the
'team' based mostly on the previous work of all the artists involved or their
individual interest in baseball… Training meetings we told everyone to make
what they saw fit to show. A lot of leeway was given and every artist met the
challenge. This show is amazing and all the credit goes to this group of
artists. The team hit it out of
the park.
Ian Kennelly
Sacrifice Fly, 2010
18 x 24 Gouache on Paper
FPAC: Being at a game under the spotlights
with the neon green grass staring back at you brings a sentimental longing of
childhood to my thoughts. Does the art in the show reveal nostalgic
emotions? What can we expect to feel from this show?
LD: It was nostalgic
for me to make the work, since I was drawing from tickets and other mementos
from games. As I was working I was thinking about the people I went with and
what happened at the park, and of course, the ballplayers.
FPAC: Tell us about YOUR work!
IK: My work is merely one fan's
perspective.
LD: My drawings are
ink and wash depictions of tickets, baseball cards and other ephemera.
Laura Davidson
SSG: Closer is one of my favorites,
because it shows both the intense, almost volcanic forces that build up just
before the delivery. Walk-off says
it all the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.
Photos by Sylvia Stagg-Giuliano
Top: Closer
Bottom: Walk Off
JK: My images are based on Baseball cards
from the Benjamin K. Edwards Collection, Library of Congress, circa
1909-11. Originally these cards
were the first baseball cards were found in cigarette packages, these are from
the American Tobacco Company. The backside of the card blended into the
background. For the past year or
so, I have been researching the origins and history of baseball in Boston for
my clients, Historic Boston. While researching on the web, I found vast
collections of images from the Boston Public Library and the Library of
Congress. The baseball cards were attractive to me as they related to my work
as a graphic designer and lover of paper ephemera. The integrated graphic forms
are from printer's register marks.
"The most
interesting thing I discovered in my research was that there was a baseball
stadium located here on Congress Street that predates the Boston Wharf
buildings... Our baseball show is located only a few blocks away from that
site." - Joanne Kaliontzis
Joanne Kaliontzis
Studie for Babe Ruth,
Ernie Shore, Rube Foster, and Del Gainer
24 x 34 digital collage on
panel
From an
image from the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, circa
1915-1917
FPAC: The Gallery at Atlantic Wharf is a new
space for FPAC, can you tell us more about the space and what this brings to
the community? How does the space help shape the exhibit?
IK: The show was originally intended for
the Art at 12 Gallery so initial thoughts where specific for that large brick
and beam space. We first told the team that any of us could go large or really
experiment with that amount of square footage and near century old architecture.
But as most know, news came through that Art at 12 and Made in Fort Point would
need to move to a new location by late summer. Thanks to the heroic efforts of
Gabrielle Schaffner, she was able to locate an alternate space for us, the
Gallery at Atlantic Wharf. Though just over the Congress Street Bridge it
certainly works well as one of Fort Point's neighborhood exhibition spaces. The
hard part was guessing how much work we could collective install in the
designated gallery area and the adjacent lobby spaces. I think the work really
ties all the spaces together quite well and even works very nicely with the
current BSA show 'Let's Talk About Bikes'. In the end we are quite lucky to be
there and I look forward to future FPAC programming there. A big thank
you to Atlantic Wharf for trusting us with their space.
FPAC: With Fenway celebrating 100 years, what
is your favorite memory of the beloved ballpark?
LD: There are too
many - games with my mom and with Cheryl Forte. But I think the best was when
Cheryl and I saw the Clay Buchholz no-hitter while we were sitting in Theo
Epstein's box. That was a pretty unique experience.
SST: Since I
grew up in Ecuador, I don’t have memories of sharing a hotdog and peanuts with my dad at the
baseball park. But I have GREAT memories of gorging myself on empanadas and
pork sandwiches at soccer games!
FPAC: Who is
your favorite Red Sox player?
IK: There are
several players who contribute steady results and others spectacular
performances but for me Mr. Tim Wakefield has been a standout Red Sox team
member…I am sorry he has retired from the game but glad to see he did it in a
Red Sox uniform.
LD: I like David Ortiz. And Dustin Pedroia, and Youk. (But now, besides the
Sox and Tigers, I'll be keeping up with the White Sox)
